https://stream.echo6.co/videos/watch/ead3fbfa-ca65-49ef-8e84-58a095557367 A simple home made groundplane antenna for the amateur 50 MHz (6 metre) band. Radiating element and radials are both a quarter wavelength long and vary depending on the design frequency. The radiating element was originally half of the longest element from an old VHF TV antenna (approx 3m long). We're 'lucky' in Melbourne that we had Channel 0 until the 1980s; newer VHF antennas or those used in other cities might only have done Channel 2 and upwards, so be too small for this project. If all else fails, many hardware stores sell aluminium tubing or you could try coax braid or thick wire taped to a bamboo rod. The ground wires are medium thickness copper wire. The sort from an old mains extension cord would be fine. In this antenna they run horizontally, with a 2m-long PVC boom from the 2 metre yagi below it providing support. 1.3m is good for the FM portion of the band around 53 MHz but for the SSB end around 50 MHz it should be nearer 1.4m. The formula is L = 71.5/(F) where L is the length in metres and F is the frequency in MHz. Best DX this summer has been VK4 & ZL with 5 watts power. PS: If you liked this video please consider supporting Amateur Radio VK3YE by: Subscribing on YouTube,, Checking my books page at https://books.vk3ye.com, Shopping on Amazon via: https://amzn.to/3iiDQXv, or, Shopping on eBay via: https://ebay.us/i9DuWP (then if you buy something I'll get a small commission at no cost to you) Sat, 09 May 2026 05:57:03 GMT https://validator.w3.org/feed/docs/rss2.html PeerTube - https://stream.echo6.co https://stream.echo6.co/client/assets/images/icons/icon-512x512.png https://stream.echo6.co/videos/watch/ead3fbfa-ca65-49ef-8e84-58a095557367 All rights reserved, unless otherwise specified in the terms specified at https://stream.echo6.co/about and potential licenses granted by each content's rightholder.